Take Back the Light

Chapter 31

The first day in the hospital was mostly spent sleeping. Alana requested a Slyren, because she knew that while she would have no trouble falling asleep, she didn't want to risk having a nightmare and disturbing other patients. The attempted ghouling was still fresh in her mind, and it was practically impossible to forget about it, because there was still a single red streak in her hair. Alana was reminded of it every time she saw her reflection in the trays of food Sam would bring.

Sam checked in on her at least twice an hour, dropping by between her other various duties. She looked stressed and busy, but alive and energetic. Alana could tell that she was really in her element.

Alana, however, felt off, like she was in someone else's body. As time passed, she found herself getting stronger. Her limbs no longer ached, and the chill in her heart gradually warmed up. But she couldn't do anything about her mind.

Her mind, that kept floating back to opening her eyes in the Dark Periphery after seeing her parents and realm be destroyed, surfacing from her memories with painful answers to her questions. Then to the footage of the Shane Gang falling into the Great Abyss, and the cold fury of the dark water as it chilled her lungs-

"How are you doing, kid?"

Alana blinked a few times to clear away her thoughts and turned to the doorway of her hospital room. Sam was leaning against the doorway, a clipboard in her hand.

"You didn't eat," the healer noted with a frown, gesturing to the tray in Alana's lap. Sam had dropped off the peanut butter and jelly sandwich, along with some apple juice, twenty minutes ago. Alana had the intent to eat- it had been a while since a full, proper meal- but she'd gotten lost in thought.

"Sorry. Zoned out," Alana said, taking a bite of the sandwich. Sam nodded, but Alana could tell her behavior was bothering Sam. She felt bad, but she just couldn't bring herself to be chipper after everything that had happened the last couple days.

"Ash seems really tired," Sam noted, walking over and sitting on a chair next to Alana's bed. The Infurnus was laying down next to Alana, asleep. "Although, it makes sense. His head was on fire nearly the whole time he was with me. He was so worried."

Alana nodded, taking a sip of her apple juice. "That makes sense. We weren't separated on great terms," she said, remembering the ambush at Max's camp. Sam hesitated, fiddling with the papers on her clipboard. Then, she asked,

"What happened? Max told us there was an ambush, but that was about it. What led up to you wandering around the caverns in the middle of the night?"

Alana picked at the edge of the tray.

"The incident at Dojang Grotto was messy, but we got some leads on intel. I went out to scope around," she said. It wasn't technically a lie. "And I was far away from Wild Spores, so I was going to set up camp anyway, and then I found Max."

Sam pursed her lips. Alana saw her grip on the clipboard tighten.

"Max said you were a bit of a mess when you two ran into each other," Sam said gently. "I know something must've happened, Alana. Can you please tell me? I need to know if you're okay."

Alana felt a twinge of annoyance. Sam was persistent, and she wanted to help. But all Alana wanted to do was move on from what had happened, not keep talking about it. She moved from picking at the edge of the tray to tugging at the end of her white shirt (her belongings were currently being washed to avoid dark water residue, leaving her in a white shirt and green sweatpants issued by the hospital).

"I'm fine, Sam," Alana said, forcing a small smile. "I was just worked up after what happened during the Winnowing, I think."

It was a lame story. Sam's shoulders dropped a bit, but the young woman just nodded and stood up, heading for the door.